Melissa Ford smiled and shook her head when she heard the typical cost for prom this year hovered around $1,000.

“For one night?” the Harlem High School senior said, a what-are-they-thinking look in her eyes.

Ford’s mom, Lynn, nodded in agreement.

“It’s the way we raised them,” the Loves Park mom said as she, Melissa and sophomore daughter Jessica shopped for free prom dresses at Becca’s Closet.

“It’s supposed to be my last hurrah for my senior year,” Melissa said. “I know some girls will spend $400 on a dress and pay to get their hair and make-up done and everything else, but why would you spend that much on a dress you’ll only wear once?”

According to Visa’s annual nationwide prom cost survey, spending per household is expected to drop this year to $978 from $1,139 in 2013. In the Midwest, the average is $835.

Spending may be heading in the right direction for some parents and students but remains outrageously high in the eyes of families like the Fords.

The Ford girls hope to get dresses at Becca’s Closet. They’ll pay for manicures, but they plan to do their own hair and make-up.

Girls can get formalwear, shoes, jewelry, even nail polish for free at Becca’s Closet, which is open Saturday mornings each spring and fall in the basement of Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, 1829 N. Rockton Ave., Rockford.

Girls are encouraged to bring items back after they use them so another girl can wear them for homecoming or next year’s prom.

The makeshift boutique, staffed by dozens of volunteers, features hundreds of dresses of all styles and colors. Most were worn only once, then donated.

Having a good time

The morning of April 12, 139 prom-going girls from schools across the Rock River Valley had found their dresses at Becca’s Closet. They slashed prom expenses by $100 to $500.

It didn’t take Carli and Leslie Wise long to find the perfect black-and-silver sequined dress for Carli’s prom May 3 at Pecatonica High School.

The grandmother-granddaughter duo made quick work of trying on dresses and shoes. They even found a shoulder cape and earrings.

“One of my sister’s friends is going to do my hair and make-up. She’s really good at it,” Carli said. “That just leaves the tickets, which are $40, and dinner.”

Even a few hundred dollars for prom night seems excessive when there are options like Becca’s Closet, Leslie said.

“Almost $1,000 is more than what my generation spent on a wedding,” she said. “It makes me feel like an old lady sometimes, looking at those price tags.”

Page 2 of 2 - There’s definitely pressure to spend, Carli said. She knows some girls at her school will easily spend hundreds of dollars on outfits and beauty treatments.

“Prom should be about having a good time with your friends,” Carli said. “It shouldn’t be about what you’re wearing or how much you can afford.”

Celebration of friends

Aquin Catholic High School in Freeport goes to great lengths to limit the pressure of commercialization on its prom.

Students draw names to find who their dates will be.

It’s a tradition at the school, so anyone who wants to attend the end-of-the-year dance can attend and not have to worry about not getting asked. The school also establishes some cost-sharing measures for the prom couples. Boys pay for tickets. Girls pay for photos. The cost of flowers is shared.

Tracie Dantuma, a science teacher at Aquin, spreads the word about Becca’s Closet in Stephenson County as well, to help make prom affordable.

“I did a dress drive and put up fliers,” she said. “We try to encourage as much as we can that prom is a celebration of friends. It’s a time to be together. That’s what’s important.”